Like Father...

Last night, I was talking to Allison on the phone when Liam called out for more water. I went up to get his cup and turned on the speaker phone so he could say good night to Auntie Allie. He bid her "night night", then with some prompting said, "I love you" (one of his new favorite phrases), and then, totally unprompted, shouted out, "Go Rocks!".

Upon filling up his sippy cup and returning it to him, I said, "Good night, Liam, I love you." He was slurping down his water, so I didn't expect a response. As I was closing the door, I heard, "Mommy?"

"Yes, Liam?"

"Go Big Blue!"

Growing boys

Grady is getting so big...my guess is 15 pounds. He's also super long, which makes him seem bigger than Liam was at this stage. He looks almost as big as Liam in the picture below.

Liam is really starting to dig posing for photos. He's got the game show host smile down, that's for sure!

Christmas with the Village People

We decorated our tree on Sunday, and Liam was an active participant. One day, I'm sure I'll enjoy showing this photo to his significant other!

Nic downstairs?

We had a great visit with Allison and Nic, despite almost all of us ending up with some form of stomach flu. Liam started it on Thanksgiving, when he woke up around 11 and proceeded to get sick four times. I finally learned why it is you have two waterproof mattresses in your linen arsenal...can you believe I've never had to change the sheets for puke before?

Anyway, we thought it was too much Thanksgiving goodness until he continued to get sick the next day. It didn't catch up with any of the adults until this week. I think Mark is the only one who hasn't vomited yet...knock on wood.

But nonetheless a fun visit. Liam has been waking up all week saying "Nic downstairs?" We miss you guys already! Thanks to Al for all of the photos.


Here is Liam talking into the "microphone"...

And one of Nic and Grady...

Grady was baptized on Sunday (Allison is his godmother)...

Can you believe that no one thought to get a photo of Grady with his godparents? That's what you get for baptizing your child at 5 weeks when the other one has the flu!

Some cute shots of Liam and Grady...

Grady weighed in at 12 lb. 12 oz at his one month visit!

A family photo, of sorts...

And I had to post this one...

I think that Al and Nic were ready to go back to their serene, childless life!

Name Change

I realize that I haven't changed the name of the blog yet, and that doesn't mean that I'm neglecting Grady. I've been inspired by Julie to change the URL of my blog as to not reveal as much personal information about our family...so that will likely be happening in the coming weeks, and with that change will be a new blog name. Until then, I am open to suggestions for new blog names, because I'm having trouble thinking of something cute.

I'll keep everyone posted via email (and probably holiday greeting card) about our new blog address, when I get around to changing it!

I don't have any new pictures this week, as I've not charged the camera since Liam's haircut. I guess you could say I've got my hands full.

First Haircut

It's hard to believe that Liam hasn't had a haircut yet, but it's true. Today was his first one, and it was special, particularly for Paul. Liam's first cut was at Nally's Barber Shop and was performed by Kenny, the same guy (pictured below with Mark, Liam, and Paul) who gave both Paul and Mark their first haircut! And apparently he used to cut Paul's dad's hair as well...though he didn't give him his first one--wouldn't that be remarkable!

Liam did pretty well. He cried at first, so I had to sit in the chair with him, and then our camera and Paul's camera ran out of batteries, so the pic was taken on Mark's phone, thus the questionable quality. Liam is excited because he can see himself in the mirror across the way. But still, a memory preserved. Poor Grady...I wonder if we are going to have 10% of the photos of him that we have of Liam's first year. Here's a couple of him, for the record.

Happy Birthday Yomama!

Liam is obsessed with birthdays (we think it's the cake) and has recently learned to say, "Happy Birthday!". He is also newly aware of Barack Obama, aka "yomama" to Liam. When we went to vote, I explained who Obama was, and he began saying, "Go, Obama!", which in Liamspeak translates to "go, yomama!". When Obama won the election, I told Liam it was a special day, and he said, "birthday? Yomama birthday?" So now he says it all the time, wishing yomama a happy birthday several times a day.

Another cute thing he's saying nowadays...after any meal, when I ask him if he wants anything else to eat, he says, "apple pie?" I think he got used to sweets when I was in late pregnancy/hospital/post-partum and everyone brought us treats!

So big!

Liam seems to be gigantic to me these days. I looked at his face yesterday, and I saw a boy, not a baby! It's weird. Grady is getting bigger, too...10 pounds at his 2 week doctor visit!



Here is Liam trying on Daddy's shoes...

And after a day of cake making and lasagna for dinner...

A cute photo of Mark and Liam watching football...

Which reminded me of this one from 20 months ago.

Time sure flies!

Trinity vs St X

Posted by Mark.
The all-male Catholic school my dad, my uncle, and I attended, and at which I now teach, is named Trinity. You know, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Anyway, every year we play our rival all-male Catholic school name St Xavier.

We've won 18 state titles and they've won 11.

38,800 people attended the game this year in the beginning of October. It was held at U of L's stadium and might outdraw some of their home games (oh, the tradition and pageantry of the Big East).

Liam, Liz and I were there. If you'd like to see more about the game, watch CBS this Saturday at 1pm as they do an hour-long special on great high school football rivalries. NFL Films produced it.

Here are some pictures of the little guy all decked out to chear on the Trinity Shamrocks!!


Ran into my parent's neighbor, Margie. Her son, Chris, and I graduated together.


Liam was insistent on sitting in his own seat.






Liam is very adept at cheering "Go Rocks!"


I've read that it's the highest attended regular season high school football game.

In the interest of full disclosure, we got it handed to us this year, 30-6. We'll get 'em in the playoffs. . .

Move over Mark!

Naturally, my verbose husband has enjoyed the blogging platform, but I fear that he is going to try and take over my blog. He's got a bunch of ideas for new posts, so I doubt that we have heard the last from him! But today it's me again.

Mark went back to work yesterday, leaving me alone for the first time with two kids. It wasn't as bad as I thought...though this morning, PBS was out and I didn't know what to do with Liam while I nursed Grady. If I don't keep Liam occupied, he crawls all over me and the baby, trying to give Grady kisses and tickle him. It's really cute...he grabs his feet and goes, "tickle, tickle". But he can be kind of rough, so I can't leave him alone with Grady for more than 5 seconds. He loves to hold and love him, though, as evidenced here:





Doesn't Grady look enthused by Liam's kisses?

Here Grady meets his godfather, Scott, an old friend and now colleague of Mark's:



Doesn't he look like he's a brut? We think we should nickname him "Biff"...although we like "G Bob" as well.

Not to forget Liam, who had a great time on Halloween. Our court is AWESOME for little kids. We didn't even have to leave the street. And I got to take him to a few houses, which was fun for both of us. He loved to knock and say "twick tweet", and then "thank you", of course. Here he is with Grandpere:

Thanks for all of your messages of love and good wishes. We appreciate having all of our friends and family in our lives!

More Grady

Still Mark here posting. Liz's wit and wisdom is consumed caring for Liam and Grady, so you'll have to drown your sorrow in pics of the fam.

We'll begin where we left off, on Sunday. Thanks to my aunts Lee Ann (my mom's sister) and Jeanie (my dad's sister) for some of these photos.

Liam gets ready to great his brother. . .
Thanks to Lee Ann for making the shirt.


The reigning Kentucky World Language Association Lifetime Achievement winner (I call her "mom") greets her new petit-fils.
That's my great aunt Anne over her shoulder. . .

The matriarch of the Amick family (she'd not be happy if I divulged her age, but I think she looks damn good for being born during the Woodrow Wilson administration) meets Grady. . .


Liam's new passion is kissing his baby brother. . .


It's my new hobby, too. . .


Maybe it's because we were in Indiana, but they somehow didn't have a policy prohibiting this many Amick men in a public space. . .


The very blessed and happy family. . .


Grady comes home!


This was Thursday sleeping on the couch. . .

Liz noticed his widow's peak. We don't know whose genes (or Jeans and Jeannes) are responsible, but we think it's cute. . .

That's it for now. Grady's been under the lights today getting rid of jaundice. We hope he should be well on his way to kicking out the bilirubin by Friday!

Liam's excited to be a cow again tomorrow night and go Trick or Treating.

Grady Robert Amick!!

At 10:29 am, Grady Robert Amick entered the world! We were fortunate to be able to follow our birth plan, and with the help of our invaluable doula, Susan Linville, naturally deliver a healthy 8 lb 11.6 oz, 22 inch beautiful baby boy!

Liz was amazing, inspiring, strong, humbling, heroic, determined and a mariad more adjectives I am too tired and/or insufficiently poetic to summon at the moment. (Mark is writing this post since Liz in the hospital). The following pictures are in chronoligical order.

A special thanks to my parents for getting Liam early this morning and keeping him occupied all day. It was a huge rleief knowing he was happily distracted.

I've omitted the awesome picture of the "Tree of Life" in the placenta but am happy to share it if y'all want to email.

Here goes:

Liz pulls Grady out herself (a big Thank You to our midwife, Beth!!) and immediately gets some skin-to-skin time. . .

The proud parents. . .

The post-delivery period was a wonderful time for us. Liz and I got almost two hours to spend with Grady before he was taken to the nursery. She spend it snuggling with him and bonding. . .

Grady in the nursery. Note the horizontal scar on his left gun. (that's right, I said it) The nurse thinks he must have scratched himself in utero and it's healed now. . .

Giving Grady his first bath. Liz and I both acknowledged how it was not nearly as nerve-wracking as Liam's first bath. Thanks to Alice in the nursery for her guidance and tlc. . .

Liam meets his baby brother!

Liam was nuts for Grady! He wanted to hold him and touch him. Liam was very gentle and loving. He's going to be a great big bro. . .

Are there words to describe this? Would they even be necessary?

More pics will be posted tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who sent messages of love and happiness to us today. We love you, too!